Pages

Monday, 30 September 2013

Some six months or so ago we met my brother and his wife for a walk in the Peak and visited Shining Tor. From the summit we looked longingly (some more than others, probably) at Shutingsloe in the middle distance but in the wrong direction on that day. This time we started nearer Shutingsloe and made our way there via Shining Tor. A bright sunny morning let us see the local hills at near their very best while the cool wind ensured we didn’t longer long anywhere.

A glorious sunny morning on Winter Hill attracted crowds to The Pike and elsewhere. I found some quieter places to enjoy the sunshine and more or less by accident found this finger-post almost pointing to both the Two Lads and Rivington Pike.

Monday, 23 September 2013

Oh, the fun the weather has had with my training plans. Having decided not to enter the Ben Nevis race or the, much better, Grisedale Horseshoe race in order to be fresh for the Mountain Trial – the Trial was cancelled because of bad weather for the first time in its history.

A good forecast along with well rested legs suggested a good run at the Three Shires might be a possibility and I was even prepared not to carry a camera, just to see what I could do without any distractions (this becomes critical a bit later in the day). The lows clouds nestling on the fells on Saturday morning weren’t part of any of the forecasts I had seen and the near complete absence of a breeze meant they were going to hang around. I was disappointed but not overly concerned – I thought I knew the route well enough. Well, you always do (in the car park), don’t you?

Hodge Close quarry is an interesting place and warrants more time to explore but not today as the views confirmed the clag was here to stay.

Hodge Close quarry [i]

Hodge Close quarry [ii]

Hodge Close quarry [iii]

These more or less decided that carrying a camera would be a waste of time and effort and so all that was left to do was grab a few shots before the start and not get lost after the start.

Registration at the Three Shires Inn

Tea and Cakes for sale before the race

Race Organiser suggesting “knowing your way back from Cockley Beck could be handy today”

From the start field [i]

From the start field [ii]

Camera shy – he only looked away when I pointed the camera at him!

Having grabbed a few shots before the start all I had left to do was not get lost after the start. Up and over Wetherlam went OK and approaching Swirl How, Albert & Tash caught me having recovered from a less than perfect descent from Wetherlam. Leaving Swirl How I was paying too much attention to Albert’s tale of the Wetherlam descent and it was with only the mildest of interest that we watched Tash disappear into the clag, compass in hand, in a different direction. Having been completely distracted from what we should have been doing we found ourselves on the hause between Swirl How and Grey Friar running in the wrong direction - but we did realise where we were and worked our way back to the race route. Subsequently, we avoided getting lost again apart from a half-hearted attempt on the final descent.

Another great day out and huge thanks are due to Selwyn, all the marshals and everyone else who helped make the race happen.

Sunday, 15 September 2013

A couple of posts below is a colour version of the photo below – sometimes the colours distract from the details of the photo and here, I think, the effort and concentration on Richard’s face are much more apparent in mono.

The “main event” for most people isn’t the fell race but is one of the many exhibitions of animals, crafts or machines apart from, of course, catching up with old friends probably in or around the beer tent. The main exhibition ring is too big to get close to the Judges but the sheep are judged in small pens in an adjoining field and the intensity of the process is much more apparent.

The Hodder Valley show rotates between three sites and so the fell race route alters from year to year but the route is flagged and marshalled so there is no obvious reason for the complete failure of the front of the field and almost all the rest of the field for not getting the route right. The consequences were 43 (I think) disqualifications and only 4 finishers. This provided some amusement at the prize giving afterwards although as the Race Organiser pointed out, he has to negotiate permission and access to a specific route for the race with the farmers whose land it crosses and will now have to go “cap in hand” to them to make sure no damage was done by the runners who went wrong.